Using Arabidopsis plants Col-0 and vtc2 transformed with a redox sensitive green fluorescent protein, (c-roGFP) and (m-roGFP), we investigated the effects of a progressive water stress and re-watering on the redox status of the cytosol and the mitochondria. Our results establish that water stress affects redox status differently in these two compartments, depending on phenotype and leaf age, fu...

Marigold plants (Calendula officinalis Linn) var. ‘Plamen Plus’ were grown under field conditions during the 2009 season in Trebišov, Slovakia and in Sofia, Bulgaria. The antioxidant potential in Slovak marigold flowers was due to the content of glutathione and ascorbate, two peroxidases (glutathione peroxidase and guaiacol peroxidase) and monodehydroascorbate reductase. The antioxidant capacit...

All aerobic biological systems, including N(2)-fixing root nodules, are subject to O(2) toxicity that results from the formation of reactive intermediates such as H(2)O(2) and free radicals of O(2). H(2)O(2) may be removed from root nodules in a series of enzymic reactions involving ascorbate peroxidase, dehydroascorbate reductase, and glutathione reductase. We confirm here the presence of thes...

The mitochondria of legume root nodules are critical to sustain the energy-intensive process of nitrogen fixation. They also generate reactive oxygen species at high rates and thus require the protection of antioxidant enzymes and metabolites. We show here that highly purified mitochondria from bean nodules (Phaseolus vulgaris L. cv. Contender x Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. phaseoli strain 3622)...

This study explored the role of exogenous ?-Toc (0.5 mM) and Asc (1 in alleviating damaging effects salt stress rapeseed plants (Brassica campestris cv. BARI Sarisha-17). Exposure 21-day-old to different levels (75 mM 150 NaCl) resulted higher accumulation sodium ions (Na+), reduced potassium ion (K+) levels, lower K+/Na+ ratio, increased oxidative damage, chlorophyll (Chl) breakdown, disrupted...

Ascorbic acid has numerous and diverse roles in plant metabolism. We have used the vtc-1 mutant of Arabidopsis, which is deficient in ascorbate biosynthesis, to investigate the role of ascorbate concentration in growth, regulation of photosynthesis, and control of the partitioning of antioxidative enyzmes. The mutant possessed 70% less ascorbate in the leaves compared with the wild type. This l...

Incubation of human leukocytes with ascorbic acid at neutral pH and at concentrations 10-50 times that of normal blood levels augmented both the in vitro random migration and chemotaxis of the cells by 100-300% without influencing their phagocytic capacity. Enhancement of mobility by ascorbate was evident for isolated neutrophils, eosinophils, and mono-nuclear leukocytes and was independent of ...

Glutathione reductase (GR) catalyzes the reduction of glutathione disulfide (GSSG) to reduced glutathione (GSH) and participates in the ascorbate-glutathione cycle, which scavenges H2 O2 . Here, we report that chloroplastic/mitochondrial GR2 is an important regulator of leaf senescence. Seed development of the homozygous gr2 knockout mutant was blocked at the globular stage. Therefore, to inves...

Nitric oxide (NO) is a biological messenger that orchestrates a plethora of plant functions, mainly through post-translational modifications (PTMs) such as S-nitrosylation or tyrosine nitration. In plants, hundreds of proteins have been identified as potential targets of these NO-PTMs under physiological and stress conditions indicating the relevance of NO in plant-signaling mechanisms. Among t...